This booklet, consisting mainly of photographs, is of interest as an historical document of the Zimbabwe stone sculpture movement. The early photographs of sculptors, who have now aged along with the movement, are shown here at work or at play. They and others are referred to by McEwen, familiarly and cryptically, with single names -- "Fly," "Ask," "Simon" -- we wonder who they really are.

What is also interesting in retrospect is the veil of romanticism that was already being draped over the sculptors -- "mystically inclined and armed with endless patience...with an inherent belief in ancestor worship and the realm of the unseen." The workshop school, ten years up and running by 1967, took pride in being self-supporting from sale of works. Commerce was part and parcel of the movement from the very beginning.

Arnold's thesis was the first major study of contemporary Zimbabwean stone sculpture. The scope is somewhat broader in that she considers also ancient stone sculpture -- the stone birds and monoliths of Great Zimbabwe. Her focus is on Shona iconography rather than on the art movement as a whole in all its sociological and commercial aspects (as Winter-Irving's 1991 book is). An art historical study, Zimbabwean stone sculpture discusses form and content, including human, animal and supernatural imagery, by looking at the work of a select group of Shona sculptors. The biographies of these twenty-one sculptors are given in an appendix (pp. 183-197). Other stone sculptors, not discussed in the text but who have participated in exhibitions, are listed in a separate appendix.

Although Arnold does not argue any direct connection between the ancient stone sculpture and the modern, she does suggest that Shona carving in wood and molding in clay of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures provided iconographical base and technical expertise on which the modern sculptors drew -- once the new incentive, an art for art's sake, was introduced.

The original research on which this book is based was the author's master's thesis entitled: Some aspects of iconography in selected Shona sculptures. This reprint of the 1981 edition (Bulawayo: Books of Zimbabwe) incorporates place-name changes and offers a new postscript.

This exhibition in Amsterdam features Zimbabwean artists representing a cross-section of the contemporary art scene, minus the ubiquitous stone sculpture. Painters and sculptors who work in materials other than stone are an overlooked and vibrant sector. Essays by Yvonne Vera and Barbara Murray provide the overview of contemporary art in Zimbabwe.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park was an elegant setting for what was the largest exhibition of Zimbabwe stone sculpture ever assembled. Thirty-six artists were featured, early masters and younger sculptors alike; their works are photographed in situ at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The catalog text offers three perspectives on the Zimbabwe stone sculpture phenomenon. Frank McEwen, who was present at the creation of this art movement, but has now departed from the scene, shares some personal reflections from his unique vantage point. Art critic Michael Shepherd assesses the work from the opposite pole: an outsider who has never been to Zimbabwe. Thirdly, Joram Mariga, sometimes credited with being the original Zimbabwe stone carver, certainly one of the first, speaks of his own work. Artists' biographies and a glossary of stone of Zimbabwe are included.

The commodification of Zimbawean stone sculpture has been a problem right from the beginning both for its promoters and its detractors. Since Independence it has become a political commodity as well, symbolizing a national cultural identity and promoted as such by the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and others. Yet for most Zimbabweans, "traditional" stone sculpture remains alien, or rather, they remain notably indifferent to it. Its commercial success is international, not local. Cousins explores why this is so and why the handful of artists who are trying to break out of this mold are finding it so hard to do. Among these younger artists pursuing their own intellectual visions are Tapfuma Gutsa and Vote Thebe.

In this impressively thorough documentation of Zimbabwe stone sculptors, Joosten presents a chronology and bio-bibliographies of the first generation of sculptors, those active from the early decades of the movement, from the 1950s on. The detailed chronology of the history of this art movement begins in 1944 and stops (inexplicably) in 1985. For the bio-bibliographies, more than 450 artists are profiled. As for the movers and shakers of this movement, two precursors are resurrected and restored to their rightful place in this narrative: Canon Edward Paterson of Cyrene Mission and Chirodzo School, and Hans Groeber, of Serima Mission. Also accorded his rightful due is Joram Mariga (1927-2000), the sole Zimbabwean in a leadership role in this movement. These three have been overshadowed by the outsized personalities of Frank McEwen and Tom Blomefield, who were, of course, instrumental in internationalizing and commercializing Zimbabwe stone sculpture.

The other significant contribution Joosten makes here is to differentiate between the various workshops and locales within which this sculptural movement took place: Cyrene-Harare Nyarutsetso (Paterson), Serima (Groeber), Harare (McEwen), Nyanga (Mariga), and Tengenenge (Blomefield). The book is extensively illustrated, though all black-and-white images, and includes many photographs of the sculptors. Bonuses include a short section on stone printing at Tengenenge and then a fascinating documentation section, reproducing select newspaper articles, private correspondence and photographs from 1954-2001. This fills in much detail and nuance to the story.

The genesis of modern art in Zimbabwe was in the Workshop School at the National Gallery, the brain child of Frank McEwen (1907-1994). In the beginning (in the late 1950s) painting and woodcarving were taught, but eventually stone carving predominated, according to the gospel of McEwen. This abortive effort at painting did produce one painter of note -- Thomas Mukarobgwa (1924- ). Though he, too, abandoned painting for stone sculpture, he has, interestingly, been encouraged to return to this medium in the 1990s.

The stone sculpture movement in Zimbabwe has provoked much discussion about authenticity, quality, commercialism, and imitation in art, but after almost four decades it remains a vital and successful movement, like it or not. Kennedy's retelling of the story of Zimbabwe stone sculpture focuses on the formative period, during which the first generation of artists emerged. Many of them are still (or until recently were) active -- Sylvester Mubayi (1942- ), Joseph Ndandorika (1940- ), the late John Takawira (1938-1989), Henry Munyaradzi (1931- ), and Joram Mariga (1927- ).

The Zimbabwe stone sculpture movement has always been as much about commerce as about art. From its inception in the late 1950s, the debates have centered on issues of authenticity, fine art versus tourist art, and distinguishing the "real" artists from the imitators and hacks. No one has really focused on the lower end of the high art-low art spectrum -- the street sellers, entrepreneurs who earn a livelihood from making and hawking sculpture. The Kileffs' short study is a refreshing look at the small business end of art production in Zimbabwe. It begins with the premise that this business is perfectly legitimate and worthy. Far from adopting a dismissive stance toward these individuals, the Kileffs admire the artist-entrepreneurs for their industriousness and initiative. The authors side-step the concerns of the art establishment, and squarely investigate what goes on outside the air-conditioned art gallery. From this vantage point it is all about economics and survival strategies in a competitive marketplace. Seven marketing strategies are identified and discussed: solo street walkers, roadside stand, rented overnight stand, collective ownership stand, curio shop, diversified communal venture, and gallery. Consumer behavior is carefully scrutinized by the sellers, and they adapt their selling pitch and negotiating patter accordingly: the soft sell, one upmanship, name your price, privately under-cutting the going prices, the absent sculptor represented by another who cannot adjust prices, and mass bombardment.

The vignettes of life stories of individual artist-entrepreneurs, which the Kileffs have collected, speak to aspirations, acquired skills, and economic realities. Many of the artists are school-leavers seeking to make an honest dollar; several are women; some are family enterprises; a few are venturing as far afield as Cape Town, South Africa, to sell their wares. Although only a tiny fraction of Zimbabwe street sellers will ever make it to the art gallery circuit, most dream of doing so. But in a postmodern world, issues of quality are being swept aside, as elite cultural authority is challenged. Commodification of art is a great leveler. Does it matter who makes art or where art is sold?

Despite a postscript on "A post-modern evaluation of the quality of street sellers' art," this is not a study weighted down with heavily-worded analysis and lots of statistics; it reads almost anecdotely, like an essay that grows out of personal interest rather than academic necessity. Illustrated with photographs of the artist-entrepreneurs.

Joy Kuhn's perspective on Zimbabwe stone sculptors and their mentors, Frank McEwen, Ned Patterson, and Tom Blomefield, is a highly personalized one; her narrative is downright chatty. But beneath all the first-person singular, one can glean some insights into these early pre-independence years of the movement, when Harare was still Salisbury, Zimbabwe was Rhodesia and "terrorists" were abroad in the land. Annoying, however, is the total absence of captions to identify the photographs; no names, no places; no dates; nothing, except a note that most are from the private collection of Tom Blomefield and so, presumably illustrate Tengenenge sculptures.

A major exhibition on Zimbabwe was held at the Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale in 1997, half of which was devoted to modern art. Volume 2 contains nine essays which cover stone sculpture, mission art, painting, "outsider art," tourist art, and art education. This panoramic view of the contemporary art scene in Zimbabwe is intended not as a "who's who," but as a "what's what." Originally it was planned to include only stone sculpture, but the organizers were persuaded that that would do a disservice to artists of Zimbabwe as well as to visitors to the exhibition. Two essays on the stone sculpture lead off, followed by a "scientific interlude" by geologist Georges Stoops. His analysis of the rocks used by Zimbabwe's stone sculptors shows that the names of stone referred to in the literature do not correspond to reality. The most commonly used stones, chlorite, sericite, serpentinite and steatite, are all relatively soft and easy to carve with simple tools but are sufficiently tough to guarantee firmness. The early mission-based art schools, Cyrene and Serima, provide the substance of an important historical chapter in the history of modern art in Zimbabwe. The well-illustrated catalog portion (volume 2, pp. 141-184) mirrors the sequence of essays showing examples of all types of art. Not every work in the exhibition is illustrated, however.

This catalogue was published to accompany the exhibition "Tengenenge Old-Tengenenge New" at Kasteel Groeneveld, Baarn and in the Africa Museum, Berg en Dal, Netherlands, May 19-September 26, 1994. The "old and new" refer to three generations of stone sculptors who have worked at Tengenenge Sculpture Community in northern Zimbabwe from its establishment in 1966 to the present. Tom Blomefield, former tobacco farmer with an artistic bent, recounts how Tengenenge came into being following the Universal Declaration of Independence in Rhodesia in 1965 and the collapse of the tobacco business. The farm laborers became sculptors to eke out a livelihood. Chrispen Chakanyuka and Lemon Moses were the first. The war of the 1970s shut down Tengenenge but by 1980 it revived.

Harrie Leyton writes a thoughtful well informed essay on the history and growth of Tengenenge Sculpture Community through these three phases: 1966-1978, 1981-1987, and 1988 to the present. It is not generally realized that Tengenenge artists have come from Malawi, Angola and Mozambique as well as from Zimbabwe. The now legendary feud between Tom Blomefield and Frank McEwen set Tengenenge on an independent course to make its own name apart from the art establishment in Harare, which was dominated by McEwen. With commercial success came the questions of authenticity, repetition, innovation, and quality. Zimbabwe stone sculpture has both succeeded and failed on these points, and Tengenenge Sculpture Community is no exception.

The sculptures in the present exhibition are lent by the Chupungu Sculpture Park in Msasa, Harare. Photographs and biodate are included for the sculptors.

Women’s art cooperatives are fairly common in southern Africa, usually begun as income-generating enterprises for rural women who otherwise are subsistence farmers. The Weya Community Training Centre in Zimbabwe is one fo the best known and most successful of these cooperatives, and the story of the Weya women is the centerpiece of this exhibition catalog. Complimenting the Weya story are reports on five South African women’s cooperatives. The common thread is needlework: these women do appliqués and embroidery wall hangings and other textile arts. The narrative quality of these appliqués and embroideries make them documents of women’s lives, problems, outlooks. AIDS is now a prevalent theme, but also child rearing, single motherhood, struggles for survival, and rural life. Brief biographies of many of the Weya women are included.

Reviewed by Robyn Sassen in De arte (Pretoria) 64, September 2001, pages 104-109.

Thirty-five years after the beginning of the Zimbabwe stone sculpture movement, one can speak of the emergence of a second generation of sculptors. Most emerged as artists from the late 1970s. With the coming of independence in 1980 and with the support and encouragement of the first generation of sculptors, these newer (mainly younger) sculptors have flourished. The second generation, according the Mawdsley, are pushing the boundaries of Zimbabwe stone sculpture in innovative and important ways, such as combining stone with wood and other materials. The forms, too, are changing, and there is a move away from the overall highly polished stone surfaces.

This new presentation of contemporary Zimbabwean art is not based on new research, as much as fresh packaging. Still, it is a useful survey of 20th and 21st century Zimbabwean art. The most interesting chapters are the last two, by Farai Mudodozi Chabata and Doreen Sibanda respectively, because they focus on developments in the most recent period and on the younger generation of artists. Zimbabwean art is clearly part of the global art world.

Contents: Foreword /Doreen Sibanda and Roberta Wagner -- Returning to the early conversations : re-examining missionary and non-missionary interventions in the development of art in Zimbabwe during the colonial era / Raphael Chikukwa --Main drivers for the growth and development of sculpture movements in Zimbabwe / Doreen Sibanda -- Bridging the contemporary / Zvikomborero Mandangu -- The politics of art : art education and culture in the nineties / Tashinga Matindike-Gondo -- Changing contexts for the growth of Zimbabwean contemporary art / Farai Mudododzi Chabata -- Framing the contemporary / Doreen Sibanda.

To McEwen the artists associated with his Workshop School in Harare (then Salisbruy) are the only truly authentic modern artists in Africa. Unlike the sappy, uninspired, homogenzied work coming out of the third-rate art schools in Africa, the Zimbabwe art arises "from the bowels of Africa." Nurtured and protected, "a dormant genius has revived." McEwen is unabashed in his defense of the role of the National Gallery in promoting, housing, and sponsoring artists of talent. What is interesting in this early manifestation of Zimbabwean talent is the number of painters -- works by Thomas Mukarobgwe, Charles Fernando, and Joseph Ndandarika are illustrated here. That part of the Zimbabwe art movement seems to have died out in favor of the stone carving. The sculptors Bernard Manyandure, Boira Mteki, Barakinya, Lemon Moses, Joram Mariga, and Kumberai Mapanda are also illustrated in this article.

Zimbabwe goes to Korea. Former Czech ambassador to Zimbabwe Jaroslav Olša spear-headed the project to introduce contemporary Zimbabwean art to Korean audiences. This fine catalog, accompanying the 2010 exhibition, balances the ubiquitous stone sculpture with other art media, notably painting. Olša covers the history of modern art in Zimbabwe and is particularly informative on the more recent decades of the 1990s and 2000s. An excellent overview of the 20th century and early 21st century art scene in Zimbabwe.

Mor, a former Italian ambassador to Zimbabwe, has encapsulated the Shona sculptural tradition for nonspecialists in what he calls "a text and an invitation." An informed layperson, he wrote this non-scholarly but thoughtful and sincere essay, obviously, as a labor of love. Although Mor uses the designation "Shona" sculpture, now generally discarded as misleadingly narrow, the list of artists (pp. 152-158) mentions several who are of Yao, Chewa and other non-Shona origins. Mor's focus, however, is the "Harare school," and he interviewed a number of Harare-based artists. He discusses origins and developments -- Frank McEwen, Vukutu and Tengenenge communities -- characteristics and tendencies, even the stone itself as a medium of sculpture. Singling out John Takawira, Henry Munyaradzi and Nicholas Mukomberanwa as the three luminaries of the tradition, he also briefly discusses several others. One hundred sculptures are illustrated in color. Extensive bibliography, including newspaper articles, and list of exhibitions of Zimbabwe stone sculpture are appended.

This attractively produced book, with many color photographs, is a collaboration between rural Zimbabwean women and a German artist and art teacher, Ilse Noy. Noy originally taught Zimbabwean women in the Weya Communal Area sewing and painting, to help them supplement their subsistence farming earnings. Through their art, the women revealed aspects of their lives and traditions. They talk about their work in the captions with the color photographs of the best of their artwork. In the accompanying text, the women talk about their worlds of marriage and children, sexuality and death, spirits and ancestors, hopes and worries. The book is at once a book about the art of the women, and a glimpse into the fabric of the artists' lives.

The Berardo Foundation in Madeira has a large collection of Zimbabwean stone sculpture, almost exclusively of works from the early years of Tengenenge, that is, the late 1960s. José Berardo acquired 2,500 sculptures from Jacob van Tilburg, a Dutch cactus grower in Pretoria, in 1981. Van Tilburg had acquired them in bulk in 1972 from Tom Blomefield of Tengenenge. Many of the early sculptors at Tengenenge became well known—Lemon Moses, Fanizani Akuda, Boira Mteki, Bernard Matemera—but for most, their careers as artists were short-lived.

The main essay in this catalog of the Berardo Collection is by Geert G. Bourgois, an art historian from Antwerp. The exhibition was held at the Monte Palace Museum, Madeira, Portugal.

Zimbabwe stone sculpture was so delimited and channeled by Frank McEwen and subsequently by other promoters that it was inevitable that the sculpture has become homogenized, commercial and formulaic. Its "authenticity" is the modernist vision imposed by McEwen, whose insistence on shielding the artists -- rural, largely uneducated men -- from pernicious outside influences has in fact stunted their growth as artists. "Shona sculpture" has remained remarkably consistent over the years in theme and content -- conservative, rural, idealized, detached from realities of life in Zimbabwe. Working the stone is conceptually easier than formulating an idea in a two-dimensional painting. McEwen preferred stone as the medium best able to express this "authentic" African creativity. The market demands and taste for Zimbabwe stone sculpture have perpetuated these formulaic and conventional artistic solutions.

Lavishly produced, Spirits in stone is a cross between a glossy coffee-table book, a slick sales catalog from an upscale department store, and a save-the-planet environment magazine. Art history this is not. One should place this book at the opposite pole from serious art history. Generic sculptures -- the owl symbolizes this, the lion symbolizes that -- are offered up for potential buyers, and a remote, exotic setting is evoked to complete the picture, with requisite wild animals and rainbow over Victoria Falls. Reader beware. Enjoy the pictures, which are suitably impressive and all in color, but skip the text, which is patronizing and preoccupied with making the reader feel good about Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe stone sculpture rather than understanding what it is all about.

Christine Scherer’s dissertation look at Zimbabwean artists and actors in the art community from multiple perspectives, weaving a complex narrative. Based on field work done around 2000-2002, she analyzes historical, economic, political, geographical, and artistic facets. The actors include gallerists, curators, teachers/mentors, critics/publicists, and underwriters. The artists are formally trained, workshop trained, self-taught, or some combination of these. And Scherer goes well beyond the ubiquitous stone sculpture for which Zimbabwe is known to consider painting, mixed media, and photography. The geographical aspects is original examining the local centers of art production - - Harare and Bulawayo - - the networks and groupings of artists and actors, the contrast between public and private initiatives, and the role of the internet in connecting the local to the global. Very few illustrations. This book is about exposition and analysis, based on numerous interviews and archival research.

This dissertation is essentially a critique of Frank McEwen’s role in the Zimbabwe sculpture enterprise and an analysis of all the writings, academic and otherwise, that have poured out since in the post-McEwen era. Skip the first two chapters and go directly to the third, where Sicilia presents “a critical anthropological analysis of identity and representation” based primarily on the literature and “Shona discourse.”

This 2007 exhibition of Zimbabwe stone sculpture, held at the National Gallery in Prague, features many of the first generation sculptors as well as younger ones. Introductory essays by Milan Knížák and Celia Winter-Irving.

For this American exhibition, Roy Cook selected nine Zimbabwe sculptors whose work represents for him the most outstanding and most seasoned of that country's stone sculpture. In so doing, he hoped to spark the interest of the American public (and other museums) in this art form. That these sculptures were shown in a natural history museum instead of an art museum raised a few eyebrows. The larger dilemma for Cook and others, who appreciate Zimbabwe stone sculpture as a truly fine art, is its rapid commercialization and consequent dilution by inferior imitations. Art critics here and in Zimbabwe have failed so far to draw the line: most viewers genuinely cannot see the difference between the good, the bad and the mediocre. Perhaps we should rely on Cook's judgment. His nine are: Edronce Rukodzi, Henry Munyaradzi, Joseph Ndandarika, John Takawira, Moses Masaya, Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Sylvester Mubayi, Norbert Shamuyarira, and Richard Mteki. Frank McEwen, the instigator of this artistic phenomenon, contributes an essay to this catalog entitled "Rebirth of an art."

Zimbabwe stone sculpture has been praised as "authentic tribal art," marketed as "spirits in stone," decried as "airport art." That it has been threatened by commercialism almost from the very beginning in the late 1950s is not in dispute. In fact, those who cry loudest are the art dealers.

Stanislaus singles out three sculptors, whom she feels rise above the angry debates and whose work speaks eloquently for itself. The three are Nicholas Mukomberanwa and Henry Munyaradzi of the first generation of Zimbabwe's sculptors, and Tapfuma Gutsa, a younger, more experimental sculptor.

Sultan has organized exhibitions of Zimbabwe stone sculpture in Harare and in Paris; he sees his role without apology as art promoter and is quite keen to bring this work to European audiences. This book serves his goal. His audience is one of non-specialists, who want a reliable, accurate introduction to the subject and are willing to spend more than a few minutes leafing through photographs (although his book is comprised mainly of photographs). The photographs are all black and white. Sultan discusses the origins of the art movement and the seminal (some would say, domineering) role of Frank McEwen, director of the then National Gallery of Rhodesia, in its formation and international promotion. An alternative center developed at Tom Blomefield's tobacco farm, Tengenenge, and another center later emerged at Roy Guthrie's Chapungu. Sultan sees three phases in the evolution of this young movement: the early years under McEwen's tutelage (1957-1973), the war years after McEwen's departure (1973-1980), and the post-independence era. He devotes less attention to the recent period.

A look at the Shona stone sculpture movement and how it has evolved. Frank McEwen, founding director of the Workshop School at the Rhodes National Gallery, is clearly the protagonist in this story -- present at the creation and instrumental in its development. Interviewed at the end of his life, McEwen can look back with some of the same uncompromising spirit that made him a controversial figure throughout his life and career in Rhodesia. Talking stones also includes segments with Roy Guthrie, of Chapunga Sculpture Park, Tom Blomefield, rogue tobacco farmer-turned-sculptor and founded of Tengenenge Sculpture Community, and several of the artists, who speak about their work and inspirations. Among those interviewed are Tapfuma Gutsa, Joram Mariga, Lemon Moses, Sylvester Mubayi, Nicholas Mukomberanwa, Bernard Takawira, and Lazarus Takawira. The issue of commercialization of the stone sculpture is also addressed and how it affects both established artists and the copyists seeking to earn an honest dollar.

A more lavish, larger format and better illustrated edition of Stone sculpture in Zimbabwe was published in 1993 by Craftsman House under the slightly modified title. The text is the same. Reviewed: "The speaking stones of Zimbabwe," Caribbean times/African times (London) June 29, 1993, page 16.

See also the author’s Pieces of time: an anthology of articles on Zimbabwe’s stone sculpture published in The herald and Zimbabwe mirror 1999-2000 (Gweru, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press, 2004). This anthology is a rambling collection of previously published essays, which though packaged differently, covers the same territory as her other books.

Zimbabwe's stone sculptors have found an able and enthusiastic publicist in Celia Winter-Irving, a transplanted Australian sculptor and former gallery director, who has taken up the cause of this "home-grown movement" with an intensity and vigor that makes us sit up and take notice. Her sincere enthusiasm comes through clearly in these pages as she addresses the origins of the sculpture, its formal qualities and relationship to other sculptural traditions in Africa and elsewhere, the cultural origins of the sculpture's subject matter (rejecting the appellation "Shona sculpture"), the seminal role of Frank McEwen and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, and the contributions of the Tengenenge Sculpture Community.

By way of deep background, Winter-Irving offers some views on Zimbabwe's cultural and artistic past -- Great Zimbabwe and San rock art. Moving forward in time, she considers next the colonial impact on the visual arts in Zimbabwe, then contemporary arts other than stone sculpture. Finally, she tackles the thorny question of quality and its opposite pole: over-commercialization of the art. Private, foreign and corporate patronage and government sponsorship are all key elements in this discussion. All in all, Stone sculpture in Zimbabwe is probably the most useful book to begin a study of the subject.

Tengenenge Sculpture Community in rural northern Zimbabwe near Guruve is one of the anchors of the whole stone sculpture movement. It emerged out of economic necessity following international sanctions in the 1960s which killed the tobacco market. Tom Blomefield, tobacco farmer, sought alternative employment for his workers, and they turned to stone carving. Through the liberation wars of the 1970s, Tengenenge artists continued to struggle, but after independence, the situation opened up. This book is the history of Tengenenge Sculpture Community from those early days to the present when Tengenenge is a large, thriving village of sculptors. Tengenenge is also examined within the larger story of the Zimbabwe stone sculpture movement’s actors and centers of activities.

Tom Blomefield’s profile reveals a larger-than-life personality, who has tirelessly promoted the sales of stone sculpture at home and abroad, but is clearly more at home in his village environment trying his own hand at the chisel. The Tengenenge sculptors come from far and wide, including Zambia, Malawi and Angola as well as Zimbabwe. The cultural backgrounds of the sculptors informs their work, whether mythology or masquerades. Not at all well known is that there are painters at Tengenenge, whose canvases share an aesthetic of the naive. Profiles of thirty-four sculptors round-out this book.

Zilberg, Jonathan Leslie. A new theory and method for the study of tourist art: the case of the flow or happy family group genre in Zimbabwean Shona stone sculpture. Saarbrücken, Germany: Lambert Academic Publishing, 2011. 98pp. illus. NB1096.6.R5Z552 2011 AFA. OCLC 711788423.

”Flow sculptures,” a genre of stylized figurative Zimbabwean stone sculpture characterized by abstract human forms with spherical heads, usually depicting mother & child or large family groupings, is the subject of Jonathan Zilberg’s study. He investigates flow sculptures aesthetically, technically, commercially, and historically. He also documents the bizarre 2005 copyright case in the United States regarding flow sculptures (chapter 6). He argues that despite abundant repetition among flow sculptures, there is considerable innovation and serialization in the history and spread of Zimbabwean flow sculpture. He further situates this tourist art within the spectrum of Quality and Kitsch.

This thesis details how Zimbabwean stone sculpture has been creatively conceived in terms of a "tribal" renaissance by the first director of the National Gallery in Harare, Zimbabwe, Frank McEwen. Despite the complexity belying the movement's history, McEwen initiated the Shona sculpture discourse through drawing upon theories about artistic revivals developed by French art historian Henri Focillon as well as the pedagogical techniques of the nineteenth century symbolist painter Gustave Moreau. In doing so, McEwen presented the works created during his tenure (1957-1973) as the re-emergence of an ancient Shona tradition. He heralded Shona sculpture as a cultural revival that would stimulate a return to the spiritual in modern European art which he construed as hopelessly trivialized. Through a critical analysis of his writings, the dissertation reveals the complexity subsumed in the construction of a tradition rooted in essentialist conceptualizations of ethnicity and history and heavily inflected by early modernist and symbolist ideas of art as sacred.

In contrast to the McEwen's widely accepted conceptualization that there have been no foreign influences on this tradition, the dissertation demonstrates African influences other than Shona. In addition to revealing these influences and the links to early modern European art through McEwen's inspirational role, the dissertation describes how the tradition is linked to the British Arts and Crafts Movement through the life-works of Canon Edward Paterson, an Anglican missionary who trained the first modern Zimbabwean stone sculptors.

The dissertation situates Shona sculpture in a specific relation to the study of tourist art as Frank McEwen defined it to be the unique historical antithesis of tourist art--or, as he termed it "airport" art. Hence this study details an ongoing debate over the need to differentiate "real" from "fake" Shona sculpture. Beyond problemizing the issue of authenticity, the thesis concludes that while many artists do perceive their works to be expressive of Shona culture, others struggle to transcend the ethnic label so as to be accepted in the modern art world as contemporary international artists in their own right. -- original abstract.

This is the first in a new annual exhibition of contemporary Zimbabwean art juried by an international panel; it combines the annual Nedlaw sculpture exhibition, begun in 1981, and the Baringa exhibition which recognizes painting, graphics, ceramics, textiles and photography. The overall grand prize winner for 1986 was sculptor Bernard Matermera. Gillian Wylie, curator at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, introduces the exhibition. Includes color illustrated section and short biographies of the artists.

The second comprehensive competition of Zimbabwean art followed the lines of the original 1986 one with two exhibitions in one: the Nedlaw exhibition for sculpture and the Baringa exhibition for painting, graphics, ceramics and textiles. Tapfuma Gutsa won the Nedlaw with his smoldering grass engulfing a wood bird, which turned into a performance piece. Berry Bickle won the Baringa competition for his mixed media work. Elimo Njau, one of the panel of jurors, makes some overall comments on the strengths and weaknesses of "Zimbabwe Heritage" 1987.

The third annual juried art competition, "Zimbabwe Heritage" awarded prizes in painting/graphics, textiles, ceramics, photography and sculpture. Overall winner was Bernard Takawira. Nedlaw award for best sculptural work went to July Nyengera. The Baringa prize for best painting, graphics, ceramics, textiles or photography went to painter Bert Hermsteed. The competition, organized by the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, fields a growing number of artists each year. Awards of merit and highly commended works are illustrated in color. Very brief biographies of the artists are included.

The fourth annual juried art competition, "Zimbabwe Heritage," awarded prizes in painting/graphics, textiles, ceramics, photography and sculpture. Sculptor Nicholas Mukomberanwa received the top award. The Nedlaw awards for outstanding sculpture went to three sculptors: Nicholas Mukomberanwa (again), Bernard Takawira (last year's grand prize winner), and metal sculptor Paul Machowani. The Baringa award went to an outsider, Fidgie Ngombe, a painter of promise, who has come up the hard way. Organized by the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, the competition fields a growing number of artists each year; in 1989 alone, there were 548 works submitted with sculpture being the largest category. Awards of merit and highly commended works are illustrated in color. Very brief biographies of the artists are included. Some of the 1989 entries were to be re-exhibited in Auckland, New Zealand, at the Commonwealth Games, January 1990.

This was the fifth "Zimbabwe Heritage" exhibition, now a well established annual event in Harare. The international panel of judges selected more than four hundred works from among those submitted. Although the category of stone sculpture still predominates, other areas, such as painting and textiles, show increased vitality and creativity. In addition to awards by medium, the judges also honored young artists of promise and women artists (trained and self-taught). The top award in 1990 went to painter Helen Lieros. The works of winners are reproduced in color in this catalog, and short biographies of all the artists are given.

The sixth "Zimbabwe Heritage" exhibition introduced a new feature: invited artists. In addition to the open competition, five recognized and established artists were invited to show works. They included painters Berry Bickle and Helen Lieros and sculptors Bernard Matemera, Bernard Takawira and Agnes Nyanhongo. Grand prize winner in 1991 was Nicholas Mukomberanwa. Further awards were made in each of the media categories and others were given for outstanding women artists and young artists. Artists' biographies are included.

"Zimbabwe Heritage" for 1992 continued the feature introduced in 1991 of inviting artists of distinction to exhibit alongside the competitors. This year's invitees each represented different media: Babette Fitzgerald ("textilist"), Never Kayowa (painter), Nicholas Mukomberanwa (sculptor), Linos Mushambi (graphics), and Estelle Zimi (ceramicist). The grand prize winner was Bernard Takawira and the top two director's awards went to Rashid Jogee and Steven Williams. The works of these and other award winners in the media categories are illustrated.

The eighth "Zimbabwe Heritage" exhibition with its ever more complex array of "invited," "selected," "award-winning," and "highly commended" artists remains a good barometer of the national art scene. In the 1993 exhibition, there were 307 entries, representing a cross section of established and emerging artists. Stone sculpture continues to dominate the field, but the painting, graphics, and metal sculpture sections show more innovation. Among those singled out for awards of distinction were Luis Meque (painting), Kier Turner (graphics), Gladman Zinyeka (stone sculpture) and Martin Mushonga (metal sculpture). The president's award of honor in 1993 went to invited artist Nicholas Mukumberanwa.

The eleventh annual "Zimbabwe Heritage" exhibition seemed more selective than in previous years -- only 226 entries in paintings and graphics, textiles, ceramics, photography, and sculpture from just over one hundred artists. The president's award of honor went to the venerable Bernard Matemera; other awards of distinction and merit went to Ishmael Wilfred, Shepherd Mahufe, Joseph Muzonda, Godfrey Machinjiei, Martin Kafara, and Anderson Mukomberanwa. Their works and those of lesser award winners are illustrated in color. Biodata is included for all artists.

More than 130 works were entered in Zimbabwe Heritage 2000 with the top award going to Morgan Musorowembudzi for his sculpture "Mugudu Riding." As in past biennales, sculpture and painting/graphics predominated, but there were a few entries of ceramics, textiles, and photography. In the sculpture category, scrap metal works outnumbered the usually prevalent stone sculpture for which Zimbabwe is famous.

For six decades stone sculpture has dominated the contemporary art scene in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia – and seems to be losing no momentum. To show the evolution, this retrospective exhibition catalog presents the sculpture by decades beginning in the 1950s. And there is an evolution in form, surface treatment, and subject matter, contrary to conventional wisdom that it is all repetitious and derivative. More than seventy sculptors are featured. The set of essays that introduce the catalog address the history of the movement, the role of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe and of Tengenenge Sculpture Community, the rise of the independent sculptor, the phenomenon of the extended family in the production of sculptures, and the competition of street artists.

The Zimbabwe stone sculpture movement continues to gather new practitioners, but is a young enough tradition that some of the original artists are still quite active. The recent work of established artists, such as Bernard Takawira, Henry Munyaradzi, and Bernard Matemera, are featured in this exhibition alongside that of a younger generation of artists; seventy works in all are illustrated.

In the catalog essay, Harrie Leyten recounts the history and evolution of this stone carving tradition; its very commercial success carries the risk of attracting imitators and "airport artists." The two major centers of Zimbabwe stone sculpture -- the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare (originally under Frank McEwen and now the B.A.T. School) and Tengenenge Farm (Tom Blomefield) -- have evolved on parallel yet distinct lines. A clue to the future of this tradition is offered in the work of Stanford Dereres, whose choice of political themes and use of new combinations of materials, suggest a departure from the usual repertoire of animal, human and mythological forms.